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EDITORS’ NOTES

Sean Paul isn’t the first dancehall reggae artist to infiltrate pop and hip-hop, but he’s the only one to reach a level of ubiquity that makes him one of his era’s biggest U.S. names. Dutty Rock, his second album, is the onw that put him over. Hard beat-knocking tracks such as “Get Busy” and “Like Glue,” along with the relatively calmer “Ganja Breed,” portray the toaster as an everywhere-at-once nightlife denizen, keeping both eyes on the booty even as he sparks up with his fellow hardmen. He’s not scared of decelerating for lilting sweet-talkers like “I’m Still in Love With You,” a duet with Sasha that gave his softer edges a radio hearing. Paul’s insistent flow, along with his many producers’ ear-grabbing variations on the basic rhythms, make Dutty Rock both emblematic of and unique in its cultural moment.

EDITORS’ NOTES

Sean Paul isn’t the first dancehall reggae artist to infiltrate pop and hip-hop, but he’s the only one to reach a level of ubiquity that makes him one of his era’s biggest U.S. names. Dutty Rock, his second album, is the onw that put him over. Hard beat-knocking tracks such as “Get Busy” and “Like Glue,” along with the relatively calmer “Ganja Breed,” portray the toaster as an everywhere-at-once nightlife denizen, keeping both eyes on the booty even as he sparks up with his fellow hardmen. He’s not scared of decelerating for lilting sweet-talkers like “I’m Still in Love With You,” a duet with Sasha that gave his softer edges a radio hearing. Paul’s insistent flow, along with his many producers’ ear-grabbing variations on the basic rhythms, make Dutty Rock both emblematic of and unique in its cultural moment.

TITLE

TIME

Dutty Rock Intro

2:24

Shout (Street Respect)

3:43

Gimme the Light

3:48

Like Glue

3:52

Get Busy

3:31

Baby Boy (feat. Beyoncé)

4:06

Top of the Game (feat. Rahzel)

4:03

Ganja Breed (feat. Chico)

3:14

Concrete

3:54

I'm Still In Love With You

4:33

International Affair (feat. Debbie Nova)

3:48

Can You Do the Work (feat. Ce'Cile)

3:23

Punkie

3:47

My Name

3:40

Jukin' Punny

2:01

Gimme the Light (Pass the Dro-Voisier Remix) [feat. Busta Rhymes]

3:20

Bubble (feat. Fahrenheit)

3:46

Shake That Thing

3:55

Esa Loca (feat. Tony Touch and R.O.B.B.)

3:46

Punkie (Espanol)

3:35

20 Songs, 1 Hour 12 Minutes

Released: Nov 12, 2002

℗ 2003 Atlantic Recording Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States except track 6 (P) 2003 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

About Sean Paul

Jamaican dancehall superstar Sean Paul broke into the global mainstream in the early 2000s with his pop-friendly party jams, while a late-2010s resurgence introduced him to a fresh generation of fans via high-profile collaborations with pop and electronic artists. Born Sean Paul Francis Henriques on January 8, 1973, the multi-ethnic Paul (his parents had Portuguese, Chinese, and Jamaican forebears) grew up comfortably in St. Andrew, Jamaica; his mother was a renowned painter. He was a skilled athlete, excelling in swimming and especially water polo, playing for the Jamaican national team in the latter. Although his education was enough to land him a prosperous career, dancehall music remained Paul's first love, particularly crafting rhythm tracks. He became a DJ after he began writing his own songs, patterning his style largely after Super Cat and finding a mentor in Don Yute; he also found contacts in several members of the reggae-pop band Third World in 1993, which helped him foster business connections.

Paul released his debut single, "Baby Girl," with producer Jeremy Harding in 1996; it proved a significant success, leading to further Jamaican hits like "Nah Get No Bly (One More Try)," "Deport Them," "Excite Me," "Infiltrate," and "Hackle Mi." In 1999, Sean Paul started to make inroads to American audiences; he was first commissioned to collaborate with fellow dancehall hitmaker Mr. Vegas on a production for rapper DMX; titled "Here Comes the Boom," the song was included in director Hype Williams' film Belly. Also that year, Paul scored a Top Ten hit on the Billboard rap charts with "Hot Gal Today."

That fall, Paul released his first album on VP Records. The sprawling Stage One collected many of Paul's previous hit singles and compilation cuts, plus a few brand-new tracks. His breakthrough arrived in 2002 with sophomore effort, Dutty Rock (VP/Atlantic). The Grammy-winning album featured the hit singles "Get Busy," "Gimme the Light," and "Baby Boy" with Beyoncé. In addition to topping the Canadian and U.S. Reggae charts, Dutty Rock entered the Billboard Top Ten and was certified multi-platinum.

Paul followed with The Trinity (Atlantic) in 2005. The album peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200, his highest showing to date, and included chart hits like "We Be Burnin'," "Temperature," and "(When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me" with Keyshia Cole. Four years later he returned with Imperial Blaze. Featuring the singles "So Fine" and "Hold My Hand" with Keri Hilson, Imperial Blaze topped the Billboard rap chart, but did not capture the same mainstream attention as his prior two releases. The loose Odyssey Mixtape dropped in 2011 and was followed a year later by Tomahawk Technique, a more pop- and dance-oriented album with production from the likes of Stargate, DJ Ammo, and Benny Blanco. While the set yielded a handful of international hits, it stalled in the U.S. Although his sixth studio album, Full Frequency, topped the U.S. reggae chart in early 2014, it didn't make much of a splash in the pop mainstream. The effort spawned the singles "Other Side of Love," "Entertainment 2.0" (featuring Juicy J, 2 Chainz, and Nicki Minaj), "Turn It Up," and "Want Dem All" (featuring Konshens), which helped Paul score his fifth Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album.

In the years that followed, Paul would appear on notable singles by Enrique Iglesias, Major Lazer, and Pharrell Williams, but it wasn't until 2016 that he would experience massive chart resurgence, appearing on hits by Sia (the Grammy-nominated "Cheap Thrills"), Little Mix ("Hair"), Clean Bandit ("Rockabye"), and Dua Lipa ("No Lie"). After Paul signed a deal with Island Records, he returned to the studio to record his seventh album. The first single from the album, "Mad Love" with David Guetta and Becky G, arrived in early 2018. ~ Steve Huey & Neil Z. Yeung